KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) – A Chiefs superfan is being sentenced on the same day his favorite team starts its new season.
A federal judge sentenced Xaviar Babudar, also known as ChiefsAholic, to more than 17 years in prison during a hearing Thursday morning.
Babudar pleaded guilty in February before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of money laundering and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines. Babudar also pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery for robbing a credit union near Tulsa. The charges are related to 11 bank robberies or attempted bank robberies in seven states.
Court documents show that Babudar laundered much of the stolen money through regional casinos and online gambling.
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If convicted, Babudar faces up to 50 years in prison. He will also have to pay $532,000 in restitution and give up a signed painting by Patrick Mahomes.
Babudar was first arrested on December 16, 2022, following a robbery at a credit union near Tulsa, Oklahoma.
According to court documents, Babudar cut his ankle bracelet and fled while awaiting trial in Oklahoma. The same documents show that he disappeared just days after a casino paid him $100,000 from Super Bowl winning bets he made on the Chiefs.
He was on the run for months before being arrested in Sacramento, California, in July 2023.
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In federal court documents released after Babudar’s arrest in California, Babudar is accused of robbing financial institutions in 2022 to finance attendance at Kansas City Chiefs games and other exclusive events.
Babudar is also facing charges in Oklahoma.
WITNESS TESTIMONY
The first testimony was written by a bank teller in Nashville, Tennessee, where Babudar stole $125,900. She wrote that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder more than a year after the incident in which he climbed over the bank counter, pressed a firearm to the teller’s body and demanded that credit union employees take him to the vault.
Another testimony was given in person by a bank teller from Iowa, where Babudar had robbed twice. She said she was filled with guilt for not being able to prevent her employees from doing the same. She told a similar story in which he ran in, jumped over a counter, pointed a gun at her employee, and pressed the gun against the teller’s body. The second time he came to rob the bank, there were six people in the bank. At the end of her testimony, she burst into tears as she recounted the traumatic experience.
BABUDAR ANSWER
Babudar feels guilt, remorse and shame for his actions. He apologized to the victims and their families.
He thanked the prosecution for giving him this opportunity, which he described as a “road to recovery” as he rediscovers his religion.
He thanked the Kansas City community and the Chiefsaholics fans because he never knew what home felt like until he experienced the support he received.
BABUDAR’S LAWYER
Babudar’s attorney, Matthew T. Merryman, Esq. of the law firm Bates Merryman Law Firm LLC, shared his reasoning for a 10-year prison sentence with the judge before the decision was made.
He said Babudar and his family were constantly homeless as a child and that he was not ready to become a popular figure in Kansas City after his social media success as Chiefsaholic.
He said he had reflected on his greed and selfishness and regretted his actions. He wanted to receive rehabilitation services in prison, including help with his gambling addiction.
US GOVERNMENT
Patrick D. Daly, lead trial attorney, claimed this case was unlike any other robbery case he sought, and the amount involved, the cooperation of six U.S. attorneys, and the trauma it caused were grounds for a 20-year prison sentence.
This Babudar is “in a class of his own”.
He said the idea of Babudar being associated with sports in any way was not beneficial to him or anyone else as sports betting was incredibly popular across state lines and across the country.
This case was prosecuted by Daly and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie C. Bradshaw in the Western District of Missouri and by U.S. Attorney Clinton J. Johnson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O. Johnston in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Bixby, Oklahoma Police Department. The Bixby, Oklahoma Police Department arrested Babudar in December 2022, and the Placer County, California Sheriff’s Department and the Lincoln, California Police Department assisted the FBI in the arrest in July 2023.
JUDGE’S DECISION
Judge Sachs said the matter was “significant criminal” as he openly discussed the possible sentences he could face, which ranged from 14 to 20 years, and he decided on 17.5 years.
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